Combination anchor, reel, and housing for small boats



March 7, 1961 J. E. HANCOCK COMBINATION ANCHOR, REEL, AND HOUSING FOR SMALL BOATS Filed D80. 24, 1956 INVENTOR. JOHN E. HANCOCK BY 3. k W

FIG. 5

United States Patent O COMBINATION ANCHOR, REEL, AND HOUSING FOR SMALL BOATS John E. Hancock, 3733 Chestnut Ave., Long Beach, Cahfi, assignor of one-tenth to Gadget-Of-The-Month Club, Inc., North Hollywood, Calif., a corporation of California I Filed Dec. 24, 1956, Ser. No. 638,166

3 Claims. (Cl. 24299) Generally speaking, the present invention relates to the anchor and reel art and, more particularly, relates to an improved combination anchor, reel, and housing for effectively securing small boats.

Prior art arrangements for securing small boats are mostly manually operable and have been rather casual and as a result many disadvantages are present. One of the biggest drawbacks of prior art devices is the necessity of the user having to touch the wet rope or anchor, thereby causing cold, wet, aching hands and sometimes resulting in rope burns and cuts from handling the anchor. In addition, the anchor, if not properly secured or housed, will mar and disfigure the deck or hull. The rope also will frequently entangle and prolong the anchoring proc ess and perhaps, sweep something overboard. There is also a safety hazard present if the rope is left lying around on the deck to tangle up with somebodys feet. A large amount of water enters the boat through use of prior art devices which contributes to maintenance problems. Deanchoring is sometimes a problem with present anchors if the anchor is in a hooked or a fouled position on the ocean floor. It should also be noted that anchoring and tie-anchoring with present state of the art devices is time consuming and fatiguing.

The present combination anchor, reel, and housing was developed primarily to overcome the above-mentioned problems and, generally speaking, can be said to consist of a bi-directional reel having a handle cooperable for actuating the reel into a locked and unlocked position and being cooperable, when in the unlocked position, for actuation into a winding and a free spinning position, with the handle usually having gripping means and capstan retaining means thereon. A capstan, on which the rope or cable is stored for paying out, is rotatably mounted with respect to a plurality of bearings, and with the bearings being rotatably disposed on an axle and being cooperable for actuation into a braking position upon actuation of said handle into said locked position. One of the bearings is generally axially slidable for actuation into a braking position and with full braking action taking effect when both bearings are in frictional contact with the capstan. A housing is used to receive, release, and eject an anchor, although in some instances it is not needed. Retaining and selectively operable releasing means cooperable for retaining and selectively releasing the anchor are usually attached to the housing along with propelling means for ejecting the anchor upon release from the housing. The retaining and selectively operable releasing means as well as the propelling means may be attached with respect to the anchor in some versions.

The anchor, which is mounted in the housing, is characterized by having a slidable link which is cooperable for movement along the shank of the anchor in order to selectively control the direction of force applied to the anchor. In some versions of the present invention the anchor has a curved, disc-shaped fluke at the anchor end to minimize the danger of damage to the hull.

From the above description of basic and generic forms of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that virtually all of the hereinbefore prior art problems and/ or disadvantages are substantially entirely eliminated, met and/or overcome in and through use of the present invention.

For example, it is obvious that the combination anchor, reel and housing of the present invention is instantaneously launchable and retrievable in such a way that virtually eliminates fatiguing manual eifort in connection with anchoring and de-anchoring.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved anchor having a de-fouling mechanism which virtually completely eliminates fouled and hooked anchors.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a housing which is cooperable for receiving, releasing, and ejecting an anchor in such a way which virtually eliminates the possibility of the anchor marring the boat and which will secure the anchor therein, thus acting as a double safety feature (the reel also secures the anchor), and will swing the anchor, upon release, out and away from the hull to prevent scratching of the boat upon en tering and leaving the Water.

It is a still further object of the present invention of the character set forth in the preceding objects, which is of relatively cheap, simple, easy to operate and of virtually foolproof construction.

Other and allied objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a careful perusal, examination, and study of the accompanying illustrations, the present specification, and the appended claims.

To facilitate understanding, reference will be made to the hereinbelow described figures, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, shown partially in section, of an illustrative reel, housing, and anchor mounted with respect to a boat;

Fig. 2 is a central cross-sectional view of the reel in a winding position with the handle in cross-section;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view, at right angles to Fig. 2, of the reel actuated from a winding position and into a substantially free spinning position;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the reel in a locked position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the reel as indicated by the direction of the arrow V in Fig. 1.

Generally speaking, the. reel, indicated generally at 16, the anchor 17, and the housing 18 are mounted to the boat 30 in a manner best shown in Fig. 1. The reel 16 is mounted to the deck 19 by bolting the axle onto a mounting plate 22. A handle 23 having gripping means 24 and resilient split locking pin means 25 is rotatably and pivotally journalled with respect to the axle 20 by means of a universal coupling 31, best shown in Fig. 2 with part of the handle 23 not shown since it is in cr0sssection, and is cooperable with the reel 16 for actuation into an'unlocked position, Figs. 1-3, and 5, and into a locked position, Fig. 4, and is cooperable, when in the unlocked position, for actuation into a winding position for reeling in, Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and into a free spinning position for paying out, Fig 3. It should be noted that the coupling 31 is definitely a coupling of the universal type and includes the aligned pins P which connect the handle 23 with respect to an inner member M of the universal coupling 31, which inner member M is in turn rotatively mounted on the lower end of the axle 20 and retained thereby an enlarged head 20H, thus making it possible to both rotate the handle 23 with respect to the axle 20 and to pivot the handle 23' with respect to the aligned pins P. Selective pivotal movement of the handle 23 from the winding position, best shown in Figs. 1 and 5, downward in the direction indicated by the arrow B in Figs. 3 and 4, actuates the reel 16 into a free spinning position, as shown in Fig. 3, and the subsequent release of the anchor 17 initiates the free spinning of the capstan 27. The axially slidable bearing 26 is actuated upward, by the cam-like pivotal movement of the handle 23, in the direction indicatedby the arrow C in Figs. 3 and 4, in order to move into braking contact with the capstan 27. Partial braking action to prevent the rope means 28 from paying out too fast and becoming entangled with the anchor 17 is possible through selective pivotal movement of the handle 23 and the axial bearing 26. Further pivotal movement of the handle 23 downward from the free spinning position, as indicated by the relative angle the handle 23 forms with the capstan 27 in Fig. 3, downward, in the direction indicated at B in Figs. 3 and 4, actuates the axially slidable bearing 26 upward until the rotatable bearing 26 is frictionally braking the capstan 27 into full braking contact with the symmetrically dispose bearing 21, thereby actuating the reel 16 into the locked position, as shown in Fig. 4. The capstan 27, on which the rope means 28 is wound, is rotatably mounted with respect to the axially slidable hearing 26 and the upwardly disposed bearing 21 and is cooperable to be frictionally braked upon actuation of the handle 23 into the locked position thereby forcing the capstan 27 .into mutual contact with the symmetrically disposed bearings 21 and 26, which are rotatably disposed on the axle 20. The capstan 27 has handle retaining means on the rim thereof, which in the specific example illustrated takes the form of apertures 29', shown in Fig. 5, for selective engagement with the capstan retaining means 25 in order to retain the crank 23 in the winding position. The anchor 17, which in the particular example illustrated has a curved, disc-shaped fluke at the anchor end, as shown in Figure 1, is mounted within the housing 18, for instantaneous release and ejection therefrom.

It should be understood that the term capstan is meant to be merely a storage drum or cylinder on which the rope is wound and is used in the same sense as a flanged reel.

In addition, the anchor is not to be limited to the one specifically described and illustrated herein and may include conventional anchors; however, the sliding link 'de-fouling device is cooperable with all conventional anchors.

It should be pointed out that this patent application is directed to A Combination Anchor, Reel, and Housing for Small Boats, and that myco-pending patent application, entitled A De-Fouling Anchor, Serial No. 630,177, filed December 24, 1956, now Patent No. 2,873,711 is directed to the anchor per se.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art after a care ful study hereof. All such properly Within the basic spirit, scope and/or teachings of the present invention are intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as if specifically described, illustrated and claimed.

For example, it is obvious that the handle and the hearings on the reel may be modified substantially and may assume different locations and relative positionings. The reel may be modified to work through a geared arrangement. The housing may simply comprise a guiderail arrangement.

The exact compositions, configurations, constructions, relative positionings, and cooperative relationships of the various component parts of the present invention are not critical, and can be modified substantially within the spirit of the present invention. 7

The embodiments of the present invention specifically described and illustrated herein are exemplary only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is to be interpreted in the light of the prior art and the appended claims only, with due consideration for the doctrine of equivalents.

1 claim:

1. Reeling and unreeling apparatus, comprising: a bidirectional reel provided with an axle and a handle rotatably and pivotally mounted by said axle with respect to said reel, for actuating said reel into a locked and unlocked position, and for actuating said reel, when in said unlocked position, between a reel-winding position and a reel-free-spinning position; said reel including two longitudinally spaced bearings rotatably disposed on said axle and having opposed spaced inner ends, with at least one of said inner ends having a braking surface; said reel including a capstan rotatably mounted around saidbearings and having a braking portion extending inwardly into a position adjacent to said braking surface; at least one of said bearings being longitudinally slidable on said axle and being positioned for forcible abutment and longitudinal slidable movement toward the other of said hearings in response to movement of said handle into said locked position, thereby forcing said braking surface into frictional braking engagement with said braking por-' tion of said capstan; said handle having capstan retaining means controllably retainingly engageable with said'capstan for retaining said handle in said reel-winding position with respect to said capstan.

2. Reeling and unreeling apparatus adapted for winding and unwinding a flexible longitudinal tensile member with respect thereto, comprising: a bi-directional reel provided with an axle and a handle rotatably and pivotally mounted by said axle with respect to said reel, for actuating said reel into a locked and unlocked position, and for actuating said reel, when in said unlocked position, between a reel-winding position and a reel-free-spinning position; said reel including two longitudinally spaced bearings rotatably disposed on said axle and having opposed spaced inner ends, with at least one of said inner ends having a braking surface; said reel including a capstan having handle retaining means adjacent one rim portion thereof controllably engageable with said handle for retaining said handle in said reel winding position, said capstan being rotatably mounted around said bearings and having a braking portion extending inwardly into a position between said opposed spaced inner ends of said two bearings; at least one of said bearings being longitudinally slidable on said axle and being positioned for forcible abutment and longitudinal slidable movement toward the other of said hearings in response to movement of said handle into said locked position, thereby forcing said braking surface into frictional braking engagement with said braking portion of said capstan.

3. Reeling and unreeling apparatus adapted for winding and unwinding an anchor line with respect thereto, comprising: a bi-directional reel provided with an axle and a handle rotatably and pivotally mounted by said axle with respect to said reel, for actuating said reel into a locked and unlocked position, and for actuating said reel, when in said unlocked position, between a reel-winding position and a reel-free-spinning posi. tion; said reel including two longitudinally spaced symmetrical bearings rotatably disposed on said axle and having opposed frusto-conical braking surfaces; said reel including a capstan having aperture means adjacent one rim portion thereof, said capstan being rotatably mounted around said beraings and having a braking portion extending angularly inwardly into a position between said opposed frusto-conical braking surfaces of said two bearings; at least one of said bearings being longitudinally slidable on said axle and being positioned for forcible abutment and longitudinal slidable movement toward the other of said bearings in response to movement of said handle into said locked position, thereby forcing said braking surfaces into frictional braking engagement with said braking portion of said capstan; said handle having capstan retaining locking pin means controllably removably insertable in said aperture means of said capstan for retaining said handle in said reel-winding position with respect to said capstan.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,109,052 Edman Sept. 1, 1914 10 2,009,356 Seversky July 23, 1935 2,315,513 Gerald Apr. 6, 1943 

